Reaction
by Swedish-Phoenix
Summary: Pepper's reaction after the Avengers told her what really happened, and it's far from the lie Tony told her over the phone. Rated T for language, Pepperony. Complete!
1. I

**- I -**

Pepper's face grew pale as she listened to every word that came out of Bruce. How he had flown into another dimension, almost didn't make it back and fainted because of the lack of oxygen. She felt how a great wave of tears built up inside of her, but she didn't want them to see her weak, crying.

But her sadness showed and Natasha stroked her arm slightly in comfort. She held back the temptation to sob and rose from her seat, trying to find something to engage her hands in, so she could calm down a tad. She felt a soft, large hand grasp her shoulder and swung her around.

"If I was in your shoes, I would go and give him a piece of your mind."Thor said with a serious face and Pepper nodded in agreement.

"I'm sorry, but he can be a jackass sometimes."Clint said quietly.

Before she could collect her thoughts and channel her anger on Tony, Thor let her go and went towards the elevator. She caught up with him and the other had disappeared behind them. They probably withdrawed back to their seperate rooms in the Stark Tower, leaving Pepper to yell at Tony in privacy.

"Where are you going?"She asked Thor as they waited for the elevator.

_5,6,7,8.._

"I'm going to fulfill a promise to someone."He said, and she recognized something very similar to nervousness in his voice.

_9,10,11.._

"Jane?"She blurted out.

"Correct. She is my first priority, even though 'work' came inbetween."He chuckled a little.

_12,13,14.._

"How did you know she was safe..? I heard about Loki's threats.."She said softly and she got the reaction she feared for; pain.

"I requested for her and Darcy to be transferred to a base in the north, as far away from Loki as possible."

"How did you make them go through all that trouble- I mean, they don't exactly do much for my safety."She smiled a little.

_56,57,58.._

"As long as she was _safe_, I would fight alongside with the Avengers. If security was poor I would back out and go to Trondheim myself to protect her."He said simply."..Tony would do the same for you, if he was in the same situation as me."

"I know. And it kills me that I missed what could possibly be our last words to each other."

"It's in the past, and he's alive and healthy- as healthy as Tony ever can be."Thor's deep chuckled vibrated through her and she joined in.

_73,74.. **BING!**_

She stepped into the elevator with him, feeling how the tears burnt in the corners of her eyes. They both pressed for the top floor, where Tony's lounge and apartment was. She had a encyclopeadia of things to say to him, and she began focusing on the true anger inside of her. She was going to slap him, verbally and physically, yell out her feelings and cry. She wasn't going to let him in, to let him win. She wanted to be the strong one for once.

Thor suddenly slided out of the elevator, and walked surprisingly gracefully across the newly repaired livingroom. Pepper rushed up to match his pace, which was impressing since she was wearing heels.

"Did you get a helicopter to the roof?"She asked.

"Your 'metal birds' lack of speed and my own flight is four times as fast. All I require is a place high enough to start from."He said with a chuckle and glanced to the side, towards the bar.

Pepper knew that Tony was there, probably with a pained expression due to her ignorance. She didn't look, she just kept up with Thor until they reached the glass doors. She hesitated at first, but went out after Thor, not prepared to be angry at Tony just yet. She was far too shocked and panicked to do nothing but cry.

She felt the warm summer breeze sweep through her clothes and hair, and Thor turned to her. He had a encouraging look on his face, and it made her smile.

"Now don't be too harsh on him. He is far too shooken up about this than he wishes to admit. All he needs is a little sense and a caring woman."He said before literally disappearing in a flash.

Pepper looked up towards the sky. A threatening, endless coat of black rain clouds came in quickly from the east and she could smell the rain in the air. She heard familiar footsteps on the concrete and ice clinking against glass.

_"Pepper..?"_


	2. II

**- II -**

Tony leaned on the doorframe, looking surprisingly mierable for being Anthony Stark. He finally seemed to realize that he was human, and it was human to be weak from time to time. And after what Tony's been through, he deserved some comfort. After she was done with her emotional rant.

"Pepper-"

"How could you? YOU FLEW INTO ANOTHER DIMENSION AND ALMOST DIED, AND YOU DIDN'T FUCKING TELL ME?"She yelled as she turned around, tears running down her cheeks."DO YOU REALIZE THAT BECAUSE OF YOUR ENDLESS STUPIDITY YOU MIGHT NOT HAVE BEEN HERE TODAY!"

"Pepper, I-"

"I WAS CRYING NONSTOP FROM THE MOMENT YOU DISAPPEARED UNTIL I STEPPED INTO THE LIMO!"She saw how pain swept across his face."IT LITERALLY FELT LIKE MY HEART HAD BROKEN, TONY! I CAN'T HANDLE BEING YOUR GIRLFRIEND! IT'S TOO MUCH WORK, EVEN FOR ME!"

"Pepper, what are you-"

"I love you Tony, I do, but I can't stand you getting hurt. It hurts me too, you know."She had calmed down now, wiping the tears from her eyes.

Tony walked up to her and grabbed her hands. She immediantly yanked them out of his grip, feeling how the tears began to flood her eyes once again. He then cupped her face softly but firm, and turned her to him.

"We both know that you leaving me is a load of bullshit."He said, with a hint of uncertaincy in his otherwise confident, serious voice."And we both know that being my girlfriend isn't an easy job. I know I can make it easier on you, I've just been too selfish-"

"Tony, I was selfish, you're a superhero, and as a superhero you have duties-"

"Pepper, you are way more important than my superhero life, and I have been prioritizing wrong. You've done nothing wrong, all I've been doing is acting like you could take all this crap, but you can't, and it's totally understandable."

"You're making me sound like I'm making excuses-"

"You're not, and if you want, you're entitled to. You're the best goddamn thing that have ever happened to me, and I'm not going to fuck this up, Pep. I want you in my life forever, and if it means taking fewer risks, then I'm more than happy to oblige."

She let him place his lips on hers, melting to the touch.

"I need you in my life, Pepper, you're my only reason to come back alive to the Tower."

"Don't say that."

"But it's true. Without you, I'm a lonely man without anything or anyone to live for. My existance would be pointless."He said and she shook her head.

"That's not true."

"Before you were my assistant and shaped up my life, I was a wrecked young man on his way to kill himself. Now look at me. I'm a decent human being. You fixed me."

"That I'll take cred for."She chuckled a bit.

Tony looked at her with the most admiring look she'd ever seen him give. Not even the suit got this kind of attention from Tony.

"Without you.. I would be nothing. I would be half."He said."I want you in my life forever, Pepper."

"You have me forever."She replied softly.

He then gave her a strange look.

"..If I didn't make the message clear, I'll repeat, so you know what you're agreeing to. Pepper, do you want to be my wife..?"

Her eyes grew wide. Tony felt the fear of rejection build up inside of his chest and he almost regretted that he had asked.

"..Yes. Of course."She felt how her eyes once again welled up, but this time because of joy.

"Really?"He sounded surprised.

"What, you don't want to..?"She asked confused through the tears.

"No, It's just a little unbelievable that you would marry the emotionally disturbed maniac with a complicated double life."

"What you don't understand is that's the man I fell in love with, and that's the man I want to marry."She said and he kissed her.

He wrapped his arms around her, pressing her against him. They kissed for what seemed like an eternity before someone knocked on the wooden doorframe. Tony grunted in protest as Pepper pulled away gently from his tight grip to see who disturbed them. Natasha and Steve stood in the door, smiling widely both of them.

"It seems like we have an audience."She told Tony and he turned around, switching his hold to an arm around her waist.

"Why are you here?"He asked grumpily.

"Tony."Pepper warned but pressed a kiss on his cheek.

"We just wanted to give you this on Fury's behalf, and congratulate you guys."Natasha smiled and showed them a file.

"Am I gonna be a permanent member of his super secret boyband now?"He asked amused and it caused a chuckle to escape Steve.

"Yeah, pretty much."Steve smiled widely and Pepper took the file from Natasha.

"I'll make sure Mr. Stark gets the application forms."Pepper said jokingly and Tony pinched her in the side."Aow!"

"Who says I wanna join?"He pointed out and Natasha rolled her eyes.

"I do. I call the shots as your fianc e."Pepper said and Tony began kissing her again.

"Good night on you two."Natasha said and walked away with Steve.

Tony snatched the file out of her hands and threw it on the ground, leading her hand around his neck. He rested his hands on her hips, pulling her close to him. After a while they stopped and returned to talking.

"So technically you'll be Iron Man's wife too."He said and she sighed.

"You need to get your head scanned."She rolled her eyes with a playful smile.

"Just saying. You understand that when marrying me, you'll have an ever greater responsibility? You're legally binded to me, and then you'll have to stick through the rough times with both my aliases."

"As long as your name tag at the table doesn't say Iron Man, I'm happy."

She chuckled and a mischevious glimmer twinkled in his eyes.

"What if it says 'Tony Stark: The Iron Man' then?"

"No."

"What if I drop the 'the'?"

"Still no."

"What if you're name tag could say 'The Iron Bride'?"

"Don't push it, Tony."She warned as she kissed him to shut him up.

"I'm still not joining though."He said when they broke for air.

"Okay, let's make a deal. You join and I'll let you have the 'Iron Man' title under your real name on the tag."She offered.

"And yours have to say either 'the lucky girl' or 'the Iron bride'."

She took a moment to think and made up her mind soon.

"I can live with that."She sighed and he fistbumped into the air.

"Oh, and the cake-"

"Once again, don't push it."Pepper giggled and they went inside, taking the folder with them.

They sat down in the couch, opening a bottle of the most expensive champagne in world. She poured it into two appropriate glasses and handed one to her fianc . She sat down next to him, feeling how he sneaked his free hand around her waist.

"I guess we'll be looking for a ring soon, right? We can atleast try to be normal."Pepper laughed and Tony smiled toothy.

"I actually wanted to ask you ever since this super secret boy band started out, even before. But I never got a moment to tell you, and the last time I tried, Coulson interrupted us.."He trailed off, thinking about the death of the brave man.

"For so long..?"She looked at him in disbelief.

"And you say I'm bad at keeping secrets."He chuckled and she couldn't help but laughing too."And what I meant to say, was that I already got a ring. But if you don't like it, I won't be offended and we'll change it."

"Can I see it.. now?"She asked and he nodded as he drank from the champagne.

"Hey dummy?"He said out loud."Bring me the wedding ring!"

Before Pepper could protest, a small gap opened in the roof and a velvety, blue box dropped down between them. He opened it and examined the content before showing it to her. Pepper recognized it's design, it was from Tiffany's. Their most expensive one too.

"Did you buy Tiffany's, or what?"She joked, but still looked a little shocked.

"I bought it, but thought that other people had that, so I went to a jeweller and had it modified. See it's originally a 2.5 carat diamond ring with a diamond band, but I fixed it so the center stone was round instead of square."He explained quickly to ensure it's uniqueness.

"You spent sixty thousand dollars-"

"A even hundred if you count in the modification costs."

"You spent all that money on a ring?"She asked surprised.

"You're the best thing that ever happened to me, and you deserve only the best."He said with a boyish grin.

"But how did the modification cost so much?"She asked curiously.

"Look directly into the diamond, closely."He said with an excited tone.

She took the ring between the thumb and her index finger and examined it. When you looked closely, the round diamond looked just like an.. arc reactor. She smiled widely as she realized this and shot him an amused glance.

"Anything to put a claim on me, huh?"She giggled and he kissed her quickly.

"Do you like it?"

"It's actually perfect."She whispered and they kissed once more.

* * *

_**[Typical Tony, obsessed with his Arc Reactor and shit..] **_

_**So.. Part three will be up soon I guess.. Going to see the Amazing Spiderman at the cinema tomorrow.. YEAH!**_


End file.
